I walk almost everyday at a Natural Park near my house. Usually, I have a pair of binoculars around my neck, just in case the birds are active. This is a park for walkers and runners, only a few trails, with no bikes or dogs allowed. There are no picnic tables or playground. It is meant as natural habitat for migrating birds and the endangered Golden-Cheeked Warbler. Only a handful of people use the park’s trails at any time, even though it’s not far from a major metropolitan area, so it often feels as though you are out in the woods. Today, it was quite sunny and exceptionally warm for this time of year, in the high 80’s, so I grabbed a ball cap before heading out for my walk. It was my Hillary hat. In the spring, summer and fall, I wore this cap almost every day, but I haven’t worn it since the Women’s March.
There were only a few other cars in the parking lot as I set out. After about a mile, I passed a man who looked like he was in his 60’s or so. I nodded hello, and as he passed me, he stopped and said, “This is Texas, you know, and that hat won’t get you very far.” I was somewhat taken aback, but stopped, looked straight at him, shrugged my shoulders and said, “At least everyone will know that I am not responsible.” He appeared to want to say more, but thought better of it and we both continued our separate ways.
A little while later, a young woman of perhaps 25 came along. She smiled broadly and shouted, “I love your hat!” As she hurried up the trail, tears began to flow down my cheeks. I did not know why I was crying, and I don’t know for certain, why I’m crying now as I write this. The tears continued all the way to the end of the trail, and into my car, and as I sat in the parking lot trying to make sense of what had happened.
This is what I have come to see. Yes, I’m still sad and disappointed for myself and for Hillary and for our country at the stupid way this election turned out. I’m really sad for that young woman who has her whole adult life ahead of her, and it will be constrained and diminished by the rightward turn of the Supreme Court and the awful consequences of trump’s cabinet picks. And I’m sad for that old guy who undoubtedly voted trump, because the tsunami is coming. It will wash over us all, and devastate the young and the old alike. That young woman and I, we tried to stop it, and came up short. That man, he doesn’t even see it coming, but it comes for him, too.